UK pricing and specification details have been revealed for the new, fourth-generation Skoda Fabia ahead of Skoda opening order books on 28 September.
Four specification levels will be available, with the entry-level S starting from £14,905. A sporty Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo trim is expected to arrive next year, although pricing information has yet to be confirmed.
The Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo rival now features LED headlights, front assist and lane assist as standard, as well as a DAB radio, a 6.5in infotainment display and Skoda’s eCall+ emergency call system.
The next step up, SE Comfort, starts from £16,795, with larger, 15in alloy wheels, front foglights and an improved leather steering wheel, in addition to rear parking sensors, adjustable lumbar support and height-adjustable front seats.
The £17,495 Fabia Colour Edition is positioned just below the range-topping specification, offering 16in wheels, privacy glass and roof-coloured door mirrors, as well as an 8.0in infotainment screen. The Colour Edition also adds a 10.0in digital cockpit, keyless start and Skoda’s trademark umbrella, situated in the door pocket. Metallic Graphite Grey and Pearl-Effect Magic Black exterior paints can be selected to contrast with the roof, wing mirror caps and alloy wheels.
Range-topping SE L models offer 16in wheels, comfort seats, chrome-edged air vents, ambient lighting and grey interior trim, with a larger 9.2in infotainment display, web radio and six speakers. SE L models also gain dual-zone air-conditioning, a removable cupholder and a front centre armrest.
The first example of the Fabia supermini left the production line in the Czech Republic in July, as the firm prepares its Ford Fiesta rival for its market launch later this year.
The Czech manufacturer claims to have invested €110 million (£94m) in adapting its Mladá Boleslav production line to build the new supermini alongside its Skoda Kamiq and Skoda Scala siblings.
The fourth-generation Fabia is said to be the most spacious car in the supermini segment, thanks to significant increases in dimensions across the board compared with its predecessor.
It makes the landmark shift onto the Volkswagen Group’s MQB-A0 supermini platform, as used by the Audi A1 Sportback, Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo, ditching the PQ architecture used in various iterations since the Mk1 Fabia arrived in 1999.
These much more modern underpinnings accommodate “improved comfort features and numerous advanced safety and [driver] assistance systems”, as well as a range of more efficient powertrains.
Join the debate
Add your comment
@Russ13b -if you've lost all interest in cars then presumably you're reading Autocar because of the occasional electric bike review?
If you want a decent engine in any car then you're going to have to pay thru the nose for it. If this can't be considered an economy car then what can? I can't find any broker deals at the moment as the car is so new but for comparison, the cheapest Kamiq lists at £21325 but you can buy it for £17000 via a main franchised dealer. Expect similar if not better discounts on the Fabia. Personally I'd take a Fabia over a Polo if prices were the same but they're not. You'll struggle to find similar deals on a Polo. These days Skoda is the higher quality car, better finished and uses better plastics. Sounds crazy but it's true - go look at them!
The current range of engines sharted by the Polo, Ibiza and this Fabia are very underwhelming. Even the 95bhp turbo triple needs lots of revs to deliver any sort of reasonable performance. The 108bhp and 148bhp range topper are too expensive to consider as economy cars.
But, really these cars are pretty much the same now, although you will probably get a lower price on the Ibiza (and it is probably slightly better looking with FR trim) than the other two.
I wrote off my car four days ago whilst I was on a Labour Friends of Scotland Zoom Call. I had a look at the Skoda Fabia yesterday online but it is actually a lot more expensive than it initially seems. If you want to get a Fabia with a decent engine, it costs almost the same as a VW Polo, which is a far more desirable car. My heart is currently set on a Citroen C4 though, becuase my local Arnold Clark branch have a good deal on them and they've got a tablet holder so I can't crash my car again by dropping the 4G iPad thingy into the footwell like I did on Thursday.